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| Lt. Robert Anderson was a B-17 co-pilot in the 337th Bombardment Squadron. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/56296347/robert-eugene-anderson http://www.americanairmuseum.com/unit/887 |
Robert Eugene Anderson never had a chance to reach 100 years old today. Instead, he sacrificed his life for our freedom.
He was born on June 12, 1919 in Minnesota. His parents Arthur and Bertha were also both born in Minnesota. His father worked as a furniture company manager. Later he worked as a funeral director. Still later his job was an embalmer. Robert had one older brother and one younger sister. By 1940 Robert had completed one year of college and worked as an embalmer's assistant while living at home.
He enlisted in the army on February 10, 1942. He volunteered for the Army Air Forces, trained as a co-pilot, and became a second lieutenant in the 337th Bombardment Squadron, 96th Bombardment Group, 8th Air Force, which was equipped with B-17 Flying Fortresses.
The 96th BG began flying missions from England in May 1943. On July 28, 1943, Lt. Anderson was bumped from his normal co-pilot seat on the Liberty Belle (42-30141) so the squadron leader could fly in the cockpit. Lt. Anderson moved to the tail gunner position. The plane was heavily attacked on a bombing mission to Oschersleben and caught on fire. It made it out to the North Sea but was not able to make it back to England. Some of the crew was able bail out, but only the bombardier survived when he was picked up by a German seaplane.
Lt. Anderson is memorialized at The Tablet of the Missing at Netherlands American Cemetery and Memorial in Limburg, Netherlands.
Last year on this date I profiled P-38 pilot Emmett Gravitt. You can read about Emmett here.
On behalf of the fallen, if you would like to see more people become aware of this project to honor the WW2 fallen, be sure to share with others on Twitter, Facebook, etc. Thanks for your interest!
I created this video to explain why I started this project: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vXt8QA481lY.
Please consider joining the public Facebook group to increase the exposure of this project. Go to: WW2 Fallen 100
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